1. Technical Field to Which the Invention Belongs
The present invention relates to a vehicle cornering lamp for irradiating a road surface ahead of, and in the oblique direction of, a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles now are often provided with cornering lamps for easily watching pedestrians and the like in the direction in which the vehicles turn right or left at intersections.
As shown in FIG. 13, a cornering lamp 110 is provided in a front end corner portion of a vehicle 2 in order to irradiate a road surface ahead of, and in the oblique direction of, the vehicle 2.
More specifically, the cornering lamp 110 is set so that the optical axis Ax may be directed to a predetermined angle from the direction F, which extends to the front of the vehicle. Further, the cornering lamp 110 is set so that the light from a light source 112 is horizontally and diffusively reflected from a reflector 114, a luminous intensity distribution P that expands horizontally around a line Vxe2x80x94V (vertical line passing the optical axis Ax) and is directed slightly downward is formed under a line Hxe2x80x94H (horizontal line equal in height to the light source 112) as shown on an imaginary vertical screen Sc of FIG. 13.
1. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the conventional cornering lamp 110, however, the horizontally-directed diffusion angle is restricted because the lamp 110 has been arranged so that the luminous intensity distribution P is formed by the light reflected from the single reflector 114. Thus, there is a problem in that it is impossible to broadly irradiate a road surface ahead of, and in the oblique direction of, the vehicle 2 moving around a curve.
An object of the present invention, made in view of the foregoing problem, is to provide a vehicle cornering lamp capable of broadly irradiating a road surface ahead of, and in the oblique direction of, a vehicle while the vehicle is moving around a curve.
2. Manner of Solving the Problems
In order to accomplish the above and other objects, the present invention comprises a plurality of reflector units different in their light emitting directions.
A vehicle cornering lamp provided in a front corner portion of a vehicle, and used for irradiating a forward road surface in the oblique direction of the vehicle, comprises:
a plurality of light source bulbs and a plurality of reflector units each having a reflector for reflecting light from a respective one of said light source bulbs, each of said reflectors having an axis,
wherein the horizontal positions of the axes of the reflectors from different ones of said reflector units are set different from one another.
Each xe2x80x98reflector unitxe2x80x99 is not limited to a specific construction, but may be any reflector unit as long as the directions of light emission from these reflector units are set different from one another and the arrangement of the reflector units is also not restricted.
The xe2x80x98directions of light emission from the reflector unitsxe2x80x99 may be shifted in direction from one another vertically, laterally, and/or obliquely.
The plurality of xe2x80x98reflector unitsxe2x80x99 may be formed integrally or separately. Also, these xe2x80x98reflector unitsxe2x80x99 may be housed in a lamp chamber formed with a lamp body and a front cover, or otherwise may be such that the reflector units and the front cover may be used to form the cornering lamp.
3. Operation and Working Effect of the Invention
As indicated by the above-described arrangement, the vehicle cornering lamp according to the present invention comprises a plurality of reflector units, wherein the directions of light emission from these reflector units are set different from one another. Therefore, the following operation and working effect are obtainable.
More specifically, with the plurality of reflector units simultaneously switched on, a wide diffusive luminous intensity distributionxe2x80x94that previously was unobtainable from the conventional cornering lampxe2x80x94is obtainable. Moreover, an adequate combination of the plurality of reflector units is switched on so as to obtain a luminous intensity distribution having a necessary and sufficient diffusion angle.
Therefore, the vehicle cornering lamp according to the present invention is capable of broadly irradiating the forward road surface, in the oblique direction of the vehicle, while the vehicle is moving around a curve.
The arrangement of the plurality of reflector units is not specifically restricted as described above. Instead, by arranging the reflector units in a line along the front portion of the vehicle, and by overlapping mutually adjoining reflector units formed through the light emission from the respective reflector units with respect to the horizontal direction, the luminous intensity distribution formed by the vehicle cornering lamp can be broadened horizontally while maintaining light uniformity. When the adjoining reflector units are switched on and off, the positions of the light emission on the forward road surface in the oblique direction of the vehicle smoothly are varied. Because of this smooth variation, the driver does not get a feeling of wrongness as normally produced by switching the cornering lamp on and off. Moreover, since the plurality of reflector units are arranged in a line along the front end corner portion of the vehicle, the directions of light emission from the respective reflector units can easily be set horizontally different from one another.
Alternatively, by lining up the plurality of reflector units vertically in the front end corner portion as well as making up the luminous intensity distributions formed through light emission from the reflector units such that the adjoining reflector units are mutually overlapped with respect to the horizontal direction, the forward road surface in the oblique direction of the vehicle can broadly be irradiated while the lateral width of the vehicle cornering lamp is minimized. Further, by lining up the plurality of reflector units vertically, the luminous intensity distributions formed through light emission from the reflector units can be set at a relatively large horizontal diffusion angle, so that the forward road surface in the oblique direction of the vehicle is broadly irradiated by a small number of reflector units. Consequently, as it is possible to secure a large overlapped amount of luminous intensity distributions formed through light emission from the reflector units, the movement of driver""s eyes is greatly suppressed by reducing the degree of change in the light emitting position when switching of on and off conditions is made between the adjoining reflector units. Thus the driver is prevented from being given a feeling of wrongness.
Further, a light-emission control means, for controlling light emission from each of said reflector units according to the travel conditions of the vehicle, is provided to allow a broad irradiation of a necessary range of the forward road surface in the oblique direction of the vehicle moving around a curve. And this broad irradiation is made without waste. The xe2x80x98travel conditions of a vehiclexe2x80x99 means various conditional quantities regarding the travel of a vehicle, and includes external information such as, for example: vehicle speed; a steering angle; navigation data; and the like.